Alan has been awarded the OBE for services to the
environment and recieves his award on the 7th April 2009. Read
the full story here.
New York Central Park
This little movie was shot over two days during the celebration of
Central Park’s
150th Anniversary in 2003. Look out for Elizabeth Barlow Rogers. Betsy Rogers
was the first President of the Central Park Conservancy. She rescued the park
from its degenerate state in the 1980s. Today it is probably one of the best
loved and best used parks in the world. It is certainly the best managed.
Boston Post Office Square
Surely the best piece of urban regeneration on the planet. A three storey
garage is replaced by a small park right in the centre of town. Below,
a seven storey car park pays back all the development and maintenance
costs. The park features 160 plant species. The Friends of Post Office
Square are the surrounding businesses whose idea this was, and who
have gained the most from the rise in property values the park has
engendered. The principle has since been applied to Chicago’s
Millennium Park, the most expensive park ever created. Nothing repays
its investment as well as a good public park.
Boston Common and Public Garden
Boston Common fell into disrepair in the 1980s and got so bad that Mayor
Ray Flynn moved his office into the middle of the Common to reclaim
it for the people of Boston. It became the starting point for the restoration
of Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace of parks. The Swan Boats in the
adjoining Public Garden have been popular for over 100 years. You can
still buy the children’s book ‘Make way for Ducklings’.
San Francisco Presidio
Yes the Presidio was a major film, and you can learn the amazingly chequered
history of this former army base from Wikipedia et al. I was interested
in the challenge given by the US government to the Presidio Trust of
making it pay as a public park. It overlooks the famous bay and its
iconic bridge in a way that Golden Gate Park absolutely doesn’t.
San Francisco Golden Gate Park
This park is even bigger than Central Park New York and a caption tells
the story of John McLaren who developed the park over fifty years.
He was born in Scotland and refused to issue coats to his staff on
the grounds that if they worked hard enough they would keep warm. He
also foiled a plan for trams to go through the park by planting up
the proposed route so lavishly that the people campaigned to spare
it.
Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Park
This movie was, alas, shot on a rainy day. Otherwise you would see a
lot more wedding parties out in the gardens. On a previous visit I
counted seven weddings in the park at one time. I concentrate on the
two fabulous gardens that former Deputy Parks Superintendent, Bill
Livingston, created out of the quarries. It is one of the most beautiful
parks on Earth.
Vancouver Stanley Park.
Stanley Park, with its collection of totem poles, is the home of the
Vancouver Park Board. The Board was established before the City Council
and is still an independent body directly elected by the citizens of
Vancouver. It is the best park management system I have found, and,
I believe, is mainly responsible for Vancouver being hailed as the
World’s most liveable city.
